The Start

"It's not how you start, it's how you finish."

Well... okayyyy, but maybe the start's kind of important, too?

Like, there's no-finish-to-talk-about-without-a-start-kind-of-important?

So maybe this is more of a both/and.

Years ago, I wrote a piece, "Beautiful Battleground" because rowing -- while only a brief part of my life -- taught me so much about teamwork, perseverance, and journeys. One of the things rowing taught me, was about the importance of a strong start. Here's a short excerpt, related to the process crews go through just prior to the start of the race (preceded by warm-up drills, etc.):

Then, they come up to the start line. Here, the lake is at its most marvelous. The sides of the lake are lines with great oaks, weeping willows, and occasionally a pine or two, that extend their branches over the water’s edge. The sun is higher now in the sky. It is close to noon, the time to start the race. The air is charged with excitement. The crews line up next to each other, rowing past the start line, then backing their way to it. Since the rowers are actually facing the back, or stern of the boat, they have to “back it,” or use their oars in reverse in order to get in their lane at the start line. The crew glance at each other, and get ready to start.

As is the case for our team, in the boat, every person has to be focused and ready:

The coxswain calls out last minute instructions. Each rower is now staring dead ahead, at the vivid colors of the school imprinted on the back of the jersey on the mate in front of him.

In the boat, when it was time to start, we'd wait for the signal and then pull as one, in choreographed, intensely channeled exertion:

...the official stands in his boat and raises his pistol in the air, giving the crews a ‘ready all’ signal. All is quiet and still. Seemingly, even the ducks and geese have moved away, sensing the battle which is about to erupt. There is an eery quiet, even among the young leaves of the trees on either side. The wind suddenly dies down. Then, the sound of the pistol being fired cracks the air, and the crews are off.

Take customer onboarding, or employee orientation, teambuilding or the beginning of any relationship, really! The start is crucial. This is where asking questions, getting clarity around expectations, breaking down assumptions, providing context, preparing individually and collectively, and making things easy are paramount.

This is trust-building and tone-setting work. As we grow, I find myself focusing more and more on this part of the overall customer experiences. (All of it matters, really, and this part matters a heck of a lot when dealing with new products and services.)

And you know what? Sometimes, the start doesn't go the way you planned.

That's happened in the boat.

Lord knows that's happened to me in life.

And that's happened to me with SEEQ.

When I was rowing, we might start off at the wrong cadence -- too high or too low. An oar gets stuck. A piece of equipment fails. We thought we checked everything, but there's always something, and that one little something can ruin the start.

This is true for our company, too. As a team, when we don't start the way we wanted to, whether it was because an assumption was made or a mistake was made, the best thing to do is acknowledge that, empathize with people's frustration or disappointment, apologize, and fix it.

This is also why we frame the SEEQ experience as a learning journey that we're on together. Yes, it's a platform. Yes, our customers are companies and organizations. And, we're trying to do things most of them have never done before -- listening with far greater intention and a focus on understanding to improve. We're going to learn a LOT -- not just with their employees and customers whom we're trying to create better experiences for. But from one another -- as partners. What works? What doesn't work? How do we make the process better?

Not everyone's up for a learning journey together. Some just want the outcome packaged and served. And that's cool. Right now, for us, it's about the journey. And I'm beyond grateful for the partners -- old and new -- who are traveling it with us.

Said differently, I'm glad we're all in same boat. 😊

Share More Stories is a human experience research company combining AI and stories to develop actionable insights for companies, organizations and brands.

Our primary offering is SEEQ, a EX and CX insights platform focuses on helping companies understand employee and customer experiences so they can improve them. SEEQ elevates the voice of the employee and the voice of the customer through personal stories, and uses AI-powered analytics to quantity how people feel and why they feel the way they do, so you can focus on the most important aspects of their experiences.

DM me if you want to learn more, schedule a demo or give SEEQ a try.